


tidal waves

by renanoir



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Bottom Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius is Bad at Feelings, Felix is a merman, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sylvain Jose Gautier Being An Idiot, Sylvain Jose Gautier's Father's Bad Parenting, The Little Mermaid AU, Top Sylvain Jose Gautier, maybe smut later idk yet, not Disney, sylvain is a prince, sylvix - Freeform, this will have a happy ending I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24773626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renanoir/pseuds/renanoir
Summary: the sea orchestrates my requiem, louder and louder and louder.(or; the little mermaid au with sylvix)
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. one

the water is dark, ruthless and unforgiving — its saltiness burning down sylvain's throat, filling his nose and lungs and just about every part of him. the waves, relentlessly crashing into each other, are never letting up. he coughs — or, _tries_ to cough, instead he gags. it's a miserable and strangled gag, a noise he should never have to make. the cold is creeping all over his body like snakes and vines and it's reminding him of the painful grip of his older brother's rough hands on his throat, squeezing, twisting, pressing—

there's a pull, strangely soft hands wrapped around his torso as he's being pulled up and up and up — until he reaches the surface and his heavily panting form is desperately gasping for air. he's shivering. it's cold, oh so cold, with his soaked clothes clinging to his body and the sharp wind makes it all worse. he dares to open his eyes.

sylvain finds himself laying on hard ground he doesn't recognize, it's dirty and uncomfortable. it hurts all over — his eyes, his throat, his chest and even his legs, exhausted from his failed attempts of keeping himself over water. as he tries to push his body up into a sitting position, small stones prick into his shaking hands and he collapses again.

"don't move."

a voice, seemingly coming from out of nowhere, reaches sylvain's ears and he swears it's the most beautiful voice he's ever heard. smooth, velvety even, with a pleasing deepness — for a moment he thinks he could accept death and die right this instant if that voice was the last thing he heard.

all that sylvain could manage to reply was another strangled noise, and he realises he doesn't want to respond to such a voice with his own now hoarse and broken one. he feels almost embarrassed.

so instead, he opts for turning around, using his elbows and forearms to keep his head up. the face he sees is pale with sharp defined features, amber eyes narrowed in what could be concern, and long dark hair, dripping wet and sticking to the stranger's face. it reaches past his shoulders, looks soft and silky and so, so pretty. he's _pretty, pretty, pretty._

the boy is leaning on his hands, he's _shirtless_ , and sylvain can't help but watch the way the water droplets from his hair are flowing down his upper body. his lower body however is still underwater, and he wonders if– " — ou hear me?"

sylvain snaps out of it, shakes his head and raises his gaze upward. "can you even hear me?" he repeats, this time more slowly.

to this, sylvain nods. "good," is the only reply he gets from this stranger he would love to stare at for the rest of his life.

what he realizes too late is that who saved him was in fact this boy, and before he could express his gratitude, the person in question lowers his body underwater, deeper and deeper until he's completely gone. sylvain blinks.

"— what?" he slowly crawls to where the ground ends and the sea starts and stares and stares and stares for what feels like an eternity.

nothing.

"— your highness!"

the red haired prince hears footsteps echoing on the empty and rocky shore, they sound like they're close, but sylvain can't really tell. he doesn't even know where he is, even though he knows the castle's surroundings pretty well.

"there you are," a sigh of relief leaves the lips of a freckled boy with dazzling green eyes and messy grey hair, "we've all been looking for you. we were _so_ worried, i'm sorry we didn't find you faster, are you injured? i _hope_ you're not injured—"

"woah, woah... slow down there, ashe," sylvain whines, bringing one hand up to his forehead, "my head is pounding and your rambling isn't making it any easier for me."

said boy quickly bows down, a string of apologies tumbling from his mouth like water which earns him a sigh from the prince.

"please understand, your highness, we're just worried for your health. regarding the shipwreck, one would assume... well, one would assume the worst."

ashe, now helping sylvain to sit up properly, informs the prince of the details concerning the _incident_ and he allows his servant to lead him back to the castle. "the crew suffered great losses, unfortunately. on the other hand, lady annette and mercedes are safe, but i'm afraid they need to recover from the shock."

sylvain nods absentmindedly, not uttering a single word. he keeps glancing back at the sea, looking for something, _someone_.

"— we'll have doctor casagranda look for any injuries on your body first. your health has utmost priority."

"ahem."

sylvain, unable to surpress the little squeak of surprise leaving his lips, snaps out of his previous trance only to find ashe's face in front of him. his brows were furrowed, which is unusual for the usually cheerful servant, and sylvain makes a mental note to not forget this particular expression of his.

"are you alright? i've been calling you for quite a while, you know," ashe says in a gentle tone.

"i'm fine, really," the prince responds, perhaps too quickly, "you heard manuela. she says i'm all good. there's just... something on my mind, i guess."

the grey haired servant sits down next to sylvain, "whatever it is, i'm here to listen, your highness."

sylvain hesitates. ashe waits, patient as ever.

"i was saved... by a boy. if he hadn't been there, it would have been my end. i wanted to thank him, but he was gone before i had the chance to."

ashe blinks twice, " _gone_? did he perhaps return to the castle? or to town?"

the red haired prince shakes his head. "he went underwater, just like that."

"your highness, i— i don't know what to tell you—"

"it's alright. maybe i hit my head while i was in the midst of drowning and i hallucinated, who knows?" sylvain says, his voice laced with sorrow. his gaze is fixated on his shoes, not daring to look up.

"i don't believe you could have swam to the shore on your own, though. it certainly is strange," ashe replies, "perhaps your head mixed something up. it's more reasonable to assume he got out of the water, and in your confusion, you just didn't see him leave."

_i'm sure. i saw it. he went underwater, he literally went underwater_ — is what sylvain wants to say, but he doesn't. instead, he says, "you're right as always, ashe. i'll... be keeping an eye out for him, though."


	2. Chapter 2

his long fingers are restlessly moving in the smooth sand floor below where he had previously buried them, messily stirring up the fine dust just to watch it fall down again, slowly back to the ground.

felix keeps his head rested on his crossed forearms, half-lidded eyes staring at nothing in particular after the last grain of sand had returned to its place. he sighs.

apart from a few fishes lazily passing by, the alcove where he's resting is empty. being only about three meters under the surface, the sunlight still reaches it and illuminates the place gently, it's cozy and glowing in a way which feels comfortable and warm. felix' thoughts begin to wander to a certain red headed young man, _once again_ , because this person hasn't left his mind at all since the day he saved him from drowning. he can't stop thinking about his striking red hair, messy but in an artful way, and his warm brown eyes which felt so kind and understanding. felix desperately wants to see him again, but swimming up to the surface is heavily looked down upon by his father, and he would get to hear lenghty lectures from him about it if he ever found out. _no thanks._ even if it was okay, he's sure he wouldn't encounter him anyways, because it's just so unlikely.

and what would he even do? tell him he's the prince of an underwater seafolk, show him his frilly, dark violet tail and the small splotches of the same colour spreckled all over his upper body and expect that man _not_ to runaway from him? humans really aren't the kindest creatures inhabiting the planet, that much is clear. still, felix is _intrigued_ about the surface world, has always been and probably always will be. his father tells him it's a dangerous place, and even so much as shortly interacting with humans is just about the worst idea ever, but felix doesn't listen to that old man anyways, king of the seafolk or not.

with one forceful swing of his fin he gets up from his sitting position, swims to a nearby rock and picks up the vibrant red starfish who's been resting there peacefully. "— didn't annette want one of those?" he remembers as he inspects the little creature now nestled in his hands. felix shrugs nonchalantly before finally deciding to return back home.

* * *

"it's a starfish! oh my, felix, you really brought me one!"

a flash of orange, white and blue twirls around happily in front of the sea prince.

"don't mention it, i just happened to see one," he responds, watching the joyful bundle of sunshine, also known as annette, bring the small creature closer to her face to get a better look at it. "— they aren't even that rare, yet you're making such a big fuss."

"oh hush, i for one just don't have the privileges of running into them quite often. it's like they're purposely avoiding me," annette whines before placing a gentle kiss on the starfishnwhich earns her a disgusted look on felix' face.

"are you done making out with the damn thing yet?"

the red haired girl giggles, very much amused at her friend's reaction, before her face turns more serious, but without the faintest trace of anger, only worry filling her angelic feautures.

"i heard about your little... _stunt_ , so to speak, from dimitri," she clears her throat before continuing, "care to explain what happened?"

"how nice of him to watch and then fuck off without even saying a single word to me," felix says, positively annoyed now. he brings one hand up and tangles his pale fingers in his long, black hair, giving it a twirl out of habit.

annette doesn't say anything. instead, she waits for felix to continue.

he sighs, it's long and drawn out and he averts his eyes. "— look, was i supposed to let him drown? is that what you're saying?"

"not at all, i believe you did the right thing," annette replies, "but it's dangerous. what if he saw your fin, felix?"

"he was hardly in a state of conciousness, or even really aware of his surroundings. there's no way he saw anything but my face."

"if you say so. just— be careful around humans."

* * *

felix wants to see him. _has_ to see him. his heart aches terribly, thinking about the violet tail attached to him and how it's the key factor that's keeping them apart. it's not like he hates life underwater, but he doesn't adore it either. something's just missing. or, _someone_.

when night finally falls, he makes a decision.

far from the castle he calls home, in a small cave forgotten by the seafolk, lives the sea witch. felix remembers the stories he's been told about her, how glenn used to scare him with those exact stories while growing up but also how she didn't cause any trouble for as long felix has been alive.

if he didn't die by the hands of the sea witch herself, he'd die of a broken heart, so he ignores the risks and goes to see her.

the entrance to the cave is overgrown with plants, and it's so dark he can't see past it. he's not scared, though. _this is nothing_ , he tells himself over and over again like a mantra. felix swims deeper inside the cave which he thought was small, but turns out to be way bigger on the inside.

and there she is. he can't see her face in the sheer darkness, only what seems to be her hands, boney fingers with long nails and very pale, translucent skin with dark blue veins visible underneath. "— i knew you'd come."

her voice, sharp but hoarse, sends shivers down his spine. it's cold. felix is quick to regain his composure.

"good, then i don't have to explain, do i?"

she extends one of her nightmarish hands and upon further inspection, felix notices she's holding a small flask for him to take. "— drink. it'll give you legs, but in return, i want your voice."

"huh? my voice?"

"did you think i'll grant your wish for free?" she lets out an amused chuckle, which vibrates in felix' chest. it's unpleasant, so very unpleasant.

"whatever. then take it if you want it so bad." he opens the flask, downs it in one go and waits. it didn't taste like anything at all, but its aftertaste is bitter and lingers on his tongue.

"you have one month," she says, "for the human prince to fall in love with you. if he doesn't, you'll turn into sea foam."

_he's a prince? sea foam?_ felix freezes in shock and realization of what he's just done. he begins to panic, but before he has the time to really do that, his sight turns dark and he can't feel anything anymore.

* * *

for sylvain, returning to the beach everyday became a routine. it was naïve, really. each day so far has been a disappointment. what did he expect? the beautiful stranger with the long dark hair is just going to walk out of the ocean, propose to sylvain and they live happily ever after? he snorts at the thought.

he's sitting on the white sand, the salty ocean breeze dancing around his nose and messing up his hair even further, but he doesn't mind in the slightest. he rather enjoys it.

sylvain almost doesn't notice a mop of black hair and very light skin floating on top of the water. he rushes into the sea, hastily swims toward to figure while the salt water stings in his eyes and he can taste it in his mouth and it takes him back to the day he should have drowned, if it weren't for—

—him. it's him.

sylvain, upon turning the boy around, notices the same dark locks cascading down his bare shoulders, the same defined features and if his eyes wouldn't be closed, he's sure he would be greeted by the same amber orbs he saw that day. sylvain cradles the (naked) boy close to his own chest and tries to get them both safely back to the shore.

once there, he lays him down on the warm bed of sand and checks for a pulse. exhaling a shaky breath in relief, sylvain concludes that the stranger is still alive.

he unbuttons his shirt and wraps it around the stranger before picking him up and carrying him back to his castle.


End file.
